Max Abandons Ship and Cancels “Our Flag Means Death,” Wrecks Passionate Queer Fandom
We’re less than two weeks into 2024, and “Cancel Your Gays” has already struck yet again. Yesterday, Max announced that it won’t be renewing its hit pirate comedy, Our Flag Means Death after two very successful and very queer seasons. The show starred Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi as Stede Bonnet and Ed “Blackbeard” Teach, an unlikely couple who meet when Stede leaves his cushy life in favor of adventuring on the high seas as a gentleman pirate. Along the way, they gather the queerest motley crew turned motley family I’ve ever seen.
Over the course of two seasons and 18 episodes, Our Flag Means Death waved its Pride flag as high as its pirate colors, putting queerness front and center without apology. One of my favorite things about this show is that it normalized its queerness by not making sexuality a ThingTM for so many of its characters, while also treating its coming out storylines with the utmost care and respect. Stede starts season one with a whole wife and two kids, and then explores what embracing his queerness later in life looks like. We watched Jim (Vico Ortiz) begin the series by disguising themself as a man, and then becoming fully settled into their non-binary identity in season two. And the gay party didn’t stop with the core cast; we even got a look into what the lives of famed lesbian pirates Anne Bonney (Minnie Driver) and Mary Read (Rachel House) might have looked like once they took a break from piracy. So much of Our Flag Means Death was funny and weird, but it’s the moments of character vulnerability and tenderness sprinkled among the chaos that truly showcased the heart of the show.
A spokesperson for Max told The Hollywood Reporter, “We also thank the dedicated fans who embraced these stories and built a gorgeous, inclusive community surrounding the show.” It’s that very community and fandom surrounding Our Flag that makes this cancellation all the more heart-breaking. I was lucky enough to attend a panel with some of the cast at last year’s New York Comic Con, and despite the fact that the actors were unable to talk about the show due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the fans still showed up in droves. Some were in full pirate cosplay, others were handing out stickers and flyers to other fans, while even more riled up the crowd by singing sea shanties before the panel started.
That’s the thing about queer-centric fandoms: We love our stories, we love them hard, and when networks treat those stories with care we will keep showing up. We show up at conventions, online through fan art and fan fiction, and even create unofficial merch for shows when the networks refuse to invest. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m so tired of watching our shows get canceled even when they’re wildly successful. Now, I’m not here to speculate on the reason for the cancellation, but when a show has Rotten Tomatoes scores of 94% and 93% with critics and fans, respectively, I have to wonder what more we have to do to prove that our stories are worth telling.
If there’s a silver lining on this storm cloud of news, it’s that at the very least, the end of season two felt like a satisfying conclusion for the characters we’ve grown to know and love.
The show’s creator, David Jenkins, said this in an Instagram post about the cancellation: “I’m very sad I won’t set foot on the Revenge again with my friends, some of whom have become close to family. But I couldn’t be more grateful for being allowed to captain the damn thing in the first place.
Our Flag Means Us. Loving one another, pulling off some pretty weird and beautiful shit, and talking it through… as a crew. 🏴☠️🦄🐈⬛💜”
Our Flag Means Us, indeed.
Boobs on Your Tube: “Our Flag Means Death” Is Once Again the Queerest Celebration on the High Seas
It’s another Friday and once again you’ve made it!
We spent the week deep in the Flana-verse in celebration of Mike Flanagan’s latest and final Netflix horror series The Fall of the House of Usher. Kayla wrote you a quiz, Which Queer Character From the Flana-verse Are You? And then we had your daily – yes, daily! — recaps of every episode of the series, brought to you by Kayla and Valerie as an incomparable spooky tag-team. Valerie also would like to know if knew that the superheroes on Doom Patrol are queer as hell?! Christina is here with your weekly recap of The Morning Show’s Mommy Issues.
BIG NEWS around the Autostraddle TV way is Kristen Stewart’s gay ghost hunter show
Living for the Dead, which has hot paranormal investigators and Big Gay Feelings. We’re also still celebrating Horror Is So Gay 2 (we love a sequel), with Kayla and Drew’s 30 Scariest Queer Horror Movie Moments and Drew’s retrospective on Jennifer Reeder’s Girlhoods of Stuff. The trailer for Chrishell Stause’s Lifetime lesbian pregnancy thriller is here.
We had a WELCOME return to the Autostraddle TV Roundtable, and this conversation was a doozy — Were We Ever So Young? Couples We Used To Ship and Were Extremely Wrong About.
And here’s what else you may have missed!
Our Flag Means Death Episode 206: “Calypso’s Birthday” and Episode 207: “Man on Fire”
Written by Nic
When we last left the crew of the Revenge, they had just forgiven Blackbeard and welcomed him back onto the ship, now a certified “safe space” for all of their big big pirate Feelings. Now that Blackbeard is turning over a new raid-less leaf, the crew has been a bit, well, bored. As Archie tells a rousing tale of one birthday where she allegedly fought her way out of a snake, the crew realizes they haven’t had a proper romp in ages, so they make up a holiday, Calypso’s birthday, as an excuse to get dressed up and celebrate. They dock somewhere to pick up party supplies and booze, and there’s a Pride flag waving in the background, so you know this is about to be the queerest celebration on the high seas.
One of my favorite things about these latest two episodes has been getting to see Archie’s personality and just how much Jim loves it. She is excitable and joyful and goes all the way in on everything she does while Jim watches in adoration. The two turn all the way up during the party, they laugh, they dance, at least until the whole crew is attacked by the pirate Ned Low, whose raid record Blackbeard broke a few episodes back. The attack doesn’t last long though, because the other crew completely turns on their captain once they see how happy the crew of the Revenge is; it’s possible to have an amicable relationship with one’s captain, turns out. Stede ends up killing Ned Low by making him walk the plank; his first actual pirate kill.
The crew docks at the Republic of Pirates, shocked to find out that instead of being shunned thanks to how they left things with Spanish Jackie, they are lauded as heroes thanks to Stede killing Ned Low. While Stede reckons with his newfound fame, and Ed with his newfound soft life, our favorite queers take it upon themselves to play matchmaker. That’s right, my girl Zheng is back and Jim and Archie are determined to get her and Olu back together! It’s just so wholesome and sweet and I want every single good thing in the world for Olu.
After Olu and Zheng talk, he decides he’s going to join her on her ship, and Jim and Archie want to know if there’s room for them too! They’d even share a bunk if necessary since you know, that’s what they’re already doing. Stede is none too happy to hear that his crew wants to leave so he duels with Zheng about it. Before a winner can be declared though, coordinated bombs go off in every ship in Zheng’s fleet, leaving her shell-shocked as a cannonball flies directly toward her.
Gen V Episode 106: “Jumanji”
Written by Valerie Anne
I wish I understood why this episode was called Jumanji. Is it a reference to the Woods? No one played a single game.
To try to right her wrongs, Cate uses her powers to make her friends remember everything she made them forget, but this strain is too much on her brain and she ends up sucking Marie, Andre, and Jordan into her memoryscape.
The first memory they see is a few days after Cate’s powers manifested, when she told her six year old brother to go away and never come back. Her mother is freaking out, and doesn’t want to be near her own daughter, and locks her in her bedroom with gloves, Elsa-style, for nine years.
The dean comes in and offers her help learning how to control her power. She gives her pills to help her voices go away, and gives her the first hug she’s had in almost a decade. It’s no wonder she did whatever the dean asked of her.
They jump again to Cate meeting Luke, but that memory shifts when Luke addresses Andre directly, and says he knows he and Cate cheated. Jordan is pissed, but then they’re all yoinked into Jordan’s memory, and they watch Jordan help knock Luke out for Brink, and Brink rewarding them by making them his TA. Femme Jordan from the memory confronts the visiting Masc Jordan and says they could have done something to help Luke.
Suddenly they find themselves at the Woods, and see Luke and Sam hooked up to each other, Cate making Luke forget and telling him his brother is dead, for what seems like not the first time. Cate had tried to ask to stop, but they won’t let her.
Then they end up in Marie’s memory, the bloody bathroom where her parents died. The memory of her sister tells her she’ll never forgive her, and Marie realizes this is Cate talking, so she calls up to Cate, says they’re all victims of these adults who have been puppeteering their lives since they first were given Compound V.
They get Cate to wake up, and even though they don’t know if they can trust her, Marie, at least, wants to let Cate try to earn that trust back. They decide the real problem is Dean Shetty, and that she might be the answer to their problems.
And they’re not wrong. Because while all this was happening, Shetty was making her scientist make a deadly, contagious virus that only attacks people with Compound V in their system. She wants to wipe out the supes.
Doom Patrol Episode 409: “Immortimas Patrol”
Written by Valerie Anne
Once more, with feeling!
I wish y’all could have seen the look of pure delight when I realized this week’s episode is a MUSICAL EPISODE. Happy Immortimas to me!!!!
You see, when Isabel Feathers/Immortus had her temper tantrum, she yeeted the Doom Patrol into an alternate reality where every day is Immortimas Day, a day dedicated to worshipping Immortus. It reminds me of the Buffy episode where Jonathan made a reality where he was the titular “Superstar.”
Dorothy and the sex ghosts kick off our opening number, singing about loving Immortimas Day. Casey sneaks into Jane’s bedroom window so she can be the first to wish her Happy Immortimas Day, and they join the big group sing. Cliff and Larry look like their old selves, not their robot and mummy selves, and Vic is there, too; they’re all singing lines like, “Nothing is weird, everything’s fine, we’re all okay on Immortimas Day.”
Jane and Casey end up singing a lovely little duet. Casey sings about having butterflies, hoping Jane feels the same way. Jane is also singing about feeling conflicted, wondering if Casey is the key. They talk about being flung from the timestream, and their hands touch briefly, making Casey panic and awkwardly excuse herself.
Later, Casey finds Jane painting, and asks if they’re okay. Jane doesn’t answer, so Casey asks about her painting. She’s painting the Underground, but doesn’t remember what it is or why it’s important. Casey likes it all the same.
Rouge calls a team meeting to explain that she regained her memory and became self-aware that she’s involuntarily singing, one of my favorite musical tropes. She shows them clips of their interviews and one by one they remember the truth, too. Still, not all of them want to leave this candy-coated dreamscape. Everything here is… easier.
Jane finds Casey and says that now that she has her memories back, she’s feeling a bit all over the place; she thinks Casey is great, but her body is not only hers, she has her alters to think about. Casey fakes a smile and says she understands, but Jane can tell she’s hurt and she feels bad about it.
When Immortus arrives for dinner, they plan on playing it cool but Rouge goes rogue and tells Isabel they want to go home. And it’s true of more people in the group now; Dorothy doesn’t want to hide anymore, Casey isn’t finding the adventure she thought she would.
Mr. 104 gives a speech about wanting to go back, and when he wonders how he can trust his own feelings when different people have been writing his backstory, the camera cuts to Casey, still learning how to live off the comic book pages. When he wonders how he can trust his feelings when he’s not even sure who he is, the camera cuts to Jane, who has been struggling with what it means to be an alter.
Isabel hates that everyone has stopped worshipping her, so she puppets them into one last musical number about how they’re all doomed, and then shunts them back to their real timeline, their real (aging) bodies.
Boobs on Your Tube: “Our Flag Means Death” Welcomes Minnie Driver as Famously Lesbian Pirate, Anne Bonny
You made it through another week, and we’re here to talk about all the TV and film coverage you missed while you were maybe busy living your lives! It’s time for the grand return of Autostraddle’s Horror Is So Gay series (named “Horror Is So Gay 2” like all great movie sequels). We kicked off the festivities with 42 Queer Horror Movies and Shows To Stream This Month. Also this week, did you see that spectacularly gay episode of The Morning Show? Because Christina is all over it. Our Flag Means Death is back (more on lesbian specifics of that below) and Nic gave first thoughts. Drew wondered how likely it was that a dyke could ruin her life wearing the iconic outfits of the fashion-forward Passages, which is now streaming. Speaking of iconic, Drew and Riese joined forces to refresh our 25 Streaming Movies With Hot Lesbian Sex Scenes. Kayla reflected on the very honest and queer depiction of anorexia from Netflix’s Everything Now. Valerie celebrated the trans joy of Monster High 2. There was some sad updates on Survivor for the gays. Drew reviewed the d’Or-winning courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, and a hot top from us to you: that review has an intro sentence that you don’t want to miss.
And finally… Happy Fall of the House of Usher Week to all the spooky gays who celebrate!! Valerie wrote you a spoiler-free review (perfect if you haven’t watched yet!), while Kayla is going to spend the next seven days going episode-by-episode to recap, deep dive, and obsessively analyze each detail: here is episode one “A Midnight Dreary” and here’s episode two “The Masque of the Red Death.” 🔪💊🪞🩸🥃
Our Flag Means Death Episode 204: “Fun and Games”
Written by Nic
These are the faces of two lesbian pirates about to meddle in some gay drama.
So, remember how when I last wrote about Our Flag Means Death, I jokingly ended with “Anne Bonny, you up?” WELL GUESS WHO SURE WAS UP AND APPEARED WITHIN THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF EPISODE 4 WITH HER GAL PAL MARY READ!
If you guessed Anne Bonny as played by MINNIE FUCKING DRIVER, you would be 100% correct.
And how do we meet our lesbian pirate lovers?? Well! Blackbeard and Stede’s reunion doesn’t exactly go as planned, and the crew wants Blackbeard off the ship. When they dock, they discover that they’re in the same location where Ed’s old friend Mary Read has settled down with her gal pal, Anne Bonney. The women have put piracy aside for the time being and are selling antiques to anyone who happens upon them. Ed’s delighted to see his old friends and even has an adorable secret handshake with Anne. He is less delighted though, that Stede followed him off the ship what with them being broken up and all. While the men have the kind of non-conversation only recent exes can have, Anne and Mary look at each other knowingly and decide to invite them to stay for dinner. A gay ole dinner party?! Count. Me. In!
Cut to four homos, drinking and reminiscing about how they met and telling tales of their escapades. It turns out, Anne would have loved Pretty Little Liars, because her Thing is cutting off people’s faces. Anne and Mary have this play fighting/fake mad/stab each other for funsies relationship going on, and Stede is unsurprisingly confused as all heck about it. But you see, when you’ve been with someone for as long as Anne and Mary have, you need to keep things interesting. What’s a little threat of light poisoning between pirate loves, you know? As they eat their dinner, Anne reveals that Stede left his wife twice, so he must really love pirating, but of course, dearest Blackbeard didn’t know that Stede left him to go back to Mary, and he is PISSED. The two have a surprisingly real heart-to-heart about it, but are soon interrupted by Anne and Mary who can’t stop laughing at how earnest the men are being. Men are so emotional, eh?
While the women are making points about what it takes to have a long and successful relationship, the truth of the matter is, they’re meddling in other people’s lives to avoid dealing with their own fears. Anne eventually calls out Mary for making excuses about leaving because she’s afraid she’s too old to go back to pirate life full-time. Naturally, Anne storms out and quite literally lights everything on fire so the two have no choice but to return to their life on the seas.
There have been several portrayals of Anne and Mary (again, real life people), but their chaotic energy in Our Flag Means Death’s version was everything I could have hoped for. Now, all we need is for Anne, Mary, and Zheng to find each other for the most badass lady pirate team-up the world has ever seen.
Gen V Episode 105: “Welcome to the Monster Club”
Written by Valerie Anne
I knew there was a self-preservation reason Jordan went masc-form before kissing Marie for the first time. Sweet angel has trauma.
We ended last week with Marie not knowing how she ended up in bed with Jordan, but we learn this week that she’s not the only one with time missing. In fact, when their friends reconvene, they realize they’re not only missing a party’s worth of memories, but days’ worth.
When Marie goes outside, she finds Emma asleep in the pool as if it were a bathtub, still quite large. They find social media footage of Marie and Jordan making out, and of Giant Naked Emma being the life of the party. Emma says that the first time she got big, her mother called her a monster and told her to never do it again, so she never did.
Emma asks Marie to dish about Jordan, but they’re interrupted by Sam… who they don’t remember meeting, or saving. Sam says they made his own brother forget him sometimes but he’s determined to fix this.
When they get back to their room, Emma wants to hear about Marie’s new “themfriend” and Marie realizes that she does really like Jordan and becomes determined to tell them… but then also she uses her blood powers to find a tracker near her collarbone. She books it to Cate to tell her about what she found, but Cate just looks at her sadly and touches her with her gloveless hand. Marie realizes what she’s doing a moment too late, and Cate erases her memory.
Jordan is spiraling, talking to their RA, worrying that Marie’s freak-out wasn’t about the missing memories, but was because Jordan was in their femme form. Jordan admits they’ve had to date girls only in their masc form before, and the RA asks if Jordan knows that’s how Marie feels, and Jordan admits they didn’t actually ask, they just assumed.
So Jordan goes to find Marie and starts to mention their earlier conversation but… Marie doesn’t remember that conversation. Before they can investigate that, they see Marie’s collarbone wound, which she also doesn’t remember. Marie holds her hand over the same spot on Jordan and realizes there’s something in there.
Cate goes to the dean and cries because she hates doing this to her friends, but the dean promises she’s helping keep her friends safe. But then Cate gets a text that her friends found Rufus, who they think is wiping their memories, so she goes to stop them from doing a murder. While she’s there, Emma calls them and says Sam told her that it’s Cate wiping their memories, and Cate confesses, giving Andre his memories back.
He calls her a monster and walks away.
One other interesting thing we learned this week: that the Woods scientist asks to study Marie’s powers, but the dean says Marie has a “benefactor” and that she’s off-limits. Curiouser and curiouser.
The Gay Pirates of “Our Flag Means Death” Are Back and Gayer Than Ever!
This review contains some spoilers for the first three episodes of Our Flag Means Death season two.
I’ve always loved pirates. I was in high school during the height of the Pirates of the Caribbean craze, and we spent many a movie night watching and rewatching the first movie, quoting our favorite lines, and for me, wondering what that feeling in the pit of my stomach was every time Keira Knightley was on screen (Spoiler – it was the GayTM).
I’m not sure why, but pirates have always felt inherently queer to me. Maybe it’s the adventure and the breaking of established societal rules. Maybe it’s the outfits. Whatever it is, you can count me in for most pirate media, especially when there are lady pirates. (RIP Black Sails; Justice for Eleanor Guthrie and Max!) Many of the pirate-themed movies and shows I’ve watched have hidden the queerness in subtext or blink-and-you-miss-it main text, so imagine my surprise and ensuing delight when Our Flag Means Death burst onto the scene last year with its overt queerness front and center.
I’ll admit, when the show was first pitched to me, I was wary, what with all the cis men, but honestly, Meg Jones Wall’s 10 queer reasons to watch sold me. Actually, if you’re here and you haven’t read that yet, go do it and then come back. Okay great. Season one of OFMD gave us multiple canon queer relationships and situationships, non-binary characters, and later-in-life coming out; and they did it so naturally and casually. And in a time when queer shows are getting canceled left and right, it feels really nice to have our little gay pirate family back. At the time of writing, Max has dropped the first three episodes of the season, and so far season two is darker and moodier than season one, but it’s also somehow gayer, funnier, and more vulnerable than ever before.
Previously on Our Flag Means Death, Stede Bonnet left his fancy pants life and family in favor of becoming a gentleman pirate. He found himself a motley crew (including personal fave, Jim, played by absolute smokeshow Vico Ortiz), pillaging and plundering ensued. He met the famed pirate Blackbeard, whose tough exterior protected the gooey marshmallow of a man inside named Edward Teach. The two fell in love and did a bunch of gay kissin’ until Stede returned home to his wife and children, thus ending their burgeoning relationship. What Ed didn’t know though, is that Stede’s wife Mary was a helluva lot happier with Stede gone, and since Stede was a helluva lot happier with Ed, he set back out in search of his crew and his man.
“When will my boyfriend return from the war*?” *Raiding every single vessel instead of dealing with his feelings.
Season two opens with Stede and Ed each dealing with their breakup very differently. Stede, by dreaming of Ed and writing both real and imaginary love letters to him; and Ed, ahem, Blackbeard, by crashing weddings and raiding every ship in sight. To be fair, who among us hasn’t embarked on a journey of pilfering and debauchery after losing the love of our life? This is relatable content is all I’m saying. Meanwhile, Blackbeard’s crew, which now includes Frenchie and Jim, are dealing with their captain’s recklessness by employing some Lena Luthor level compartmentalization just to make it through the violence of each day.
Ed is in serious pain with no way of knowing that Stede is doing everything in his power to get back to him, and everyone around him can only sit, watch, and follow orders. Everyone that is, except Izzy. The crew calls out his toxic relationship with Blackbeard while I’m over here yelling “IZZY IS IN LOVE WITH HIM, DAMMIT!” to anyone who will listen. He’s the only one who confronts Blackbeard about the vibes on the ship, and unfortunately, that does not go over well with the captain. Ed spends the majority of these first three episodes making his heartbreak everyone else’s problem, and while it’s dark and sometimes tough to watch, it’s also honest and real in a way that isn’t often shown with men on television.
Ah yes, Blackbeard is rocking the latest from the Commander Lexa collection.
Now, while Stede and Ed are the central relationship of the show, where Our Flag Means Death really shines is in its ensemble cast. And because I am nothing if not predictable, let’s start with Jim, shall we? After originally disguising themself as a man at the beginning of season one, Jim is now comfortably settled into their nonbinary identity. Their relationship with Olu was one of the most tender and vulnerable of last season, and though the two don’t reunite until episode three, Jim’s heart is still fully on their sleeve in other ways. They immediately comfort Fang one evening by retelling the story of Pinocchio, complete with character voices, just to make him smile. It’s an interaction that catches the eye of Archie, another member of Blackbeard’s crew. Archie and Jim share several adorable moments in these first three episodes, and I won’t spoil them for you, but I do hope we get many many more.
I. SHIP. IT. (lol, ship. get it? they’re pirates.)
Leslie Jones returns as Spanish Jackie, and every word out of her mouth is ridiculous and hilarious. It’s the perfect role for her IMO. She and her 19 husbands add one more to their polycule, in the form of the Swede, in what ends up being a surprisingly entertaining subplot. In addition to Olu and Jim’s reunion, Black Pete and Lucius have a shocking reunion as well. And speaking of Olu, my favorite sweet boi continues to be sweet and earnest as he gets to know some fresh new faces.
Leslie Jones. No notes.
Which. Brings. Me. To! Soup Bitch! Or is it Pirate Queen? Or maybe Soup Queen, as suggested by my friend Carla?? But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Early in the first episode we meet a woman who runs a soup kiosk in the Republic of Pirates. Her humor is dry, her soup is delicious, and she gets a bit too much camera time for a passing NPC. Well surprise! She’s not! The woman our crew knows as Susan is actually the famous pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao, and she is a very real historical figure. Zheng’s claim to fame? Oh, just conquering China, no big deal.
The introduction of the pirate queen, her Auntie, and her ship called The Red Flag (lol) gave me some of my absolute favorite moments of the first three episodes. And don’t get me started on Ruibo Qian’s portrayal of Zheng Yi Sao. Catch me on bended knee swearing fealty to this woman who will tear down a man with her words AND her swords. It’s almost too much. Despite Auntie’s protests, Zheng has a sweet spot for Oluwande, which adorably catches him off-guard. Based on how episode three ends, I’m unclear on how much we’re going to see Zheng in the rest of the season, but I hope it’s a lot because I can see her quickly becoming a fan favorite.
Do I want to be her or be with her?
*This is about to be a spoiler for episode three*
If you were worried that Stede and Ed would spend half the season apart, worry not! Episode three is heavy on Blackbeard introspection as we watch him come to terms with his own fear of being unlovable. It’s a fear that started with his father and grew over time until this most recent “evidence” of Stede leaving him. All he needs to do is (quite literally) wake up and see what’s been in front of his face this whole time. Stede isn’t evidence of Ed being unlovable; he’s evidence that for the first time, someone actually sees Ed and loves what they see.
At the end of the episode, we get one of the most romantic scenes I’ve seen in a very long time. I surprised even myself by how emotional I got. The scene is set to “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush — but because I’m a Black reality TV fan, I know it as the Maxwell song that was also the soundtrack to the most heart wrenching So You Think You Can Dance routine in history. But I digress. The scene is beautifully shot and beautifully acted, and it will live in my brain for a very long time.
HANG IT IN THE LOUVRE
If these three episodes are any indication of the full season, then we are in for a ride, folks. As always, my wish is for even more women and nonbinary characters to join the cast; and with the addition of Zheng Yi Sao, this writer has her fingers crossed for even more historical lady pirates to arrive. Anne Bonny, you up?
10 Queer Reasons You Should Be Watching “Our Flag Means Death”
Mild spoilers for Our Flag Means Death.
I admit that when friends started begging me to watch Our Flag Means Death, telling me how funny and smart and gay it was, I was extremely skeptical. It seemed too good to be true, the kind of show that should be queer but would end up letting me down instead.
But fuck, was I wrong.
Our Flag Means Death, created by David Jenkins for HBO Max, is extremely, explicitly queer. If you don’t know anything about the show, which is loosely based on real historical events, let me give you the elevator pitch: the charming, naive Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) upends his life to run away and become a gentleman pirate, in spite of having no experience whatsoever on the open seas — and in the process he meets the famous pirate captain Blackbeard (Taika Waititi), a notorious bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold type who’s looking to leave his life of crime and settle down into a more stable, comfortable situation as his true self, Edward Teach. Accompanied by Stede’s merry band of wildly inexperienced pirates, the pair go on strange adventures, tangle with the British navy, and eventually, fall for each other.
https://youtu.be/xFE8ASwxmpA
Packed with brilliant leads and an incredible ensemble of sensitive men, strong women, and badass non-binary folks, the show is an absolute delight, dancing between serious and silly in equal measure. There are so many queer relationships, so many exes and love triangles, so many beautiful stories playing out and interweaving in ways that feel familiar and fresh all at once. The show takes a few episodes to find its groove, but by the time Blackbeard comes into play in episode three I was completely hooked.
And given the sheer number of lesbians on TikTok screaming about Blackbeard, I wanted to give my top ten reasons (of which there are thousands of others) that you should be watching this show.
1. Vico Ortiz
Nonbinary Latine actor Vico Ortiz plays Jim, a character that initially blends in with the other eccentric pirates on the ship but quickly emerges as a brilliant fighter with a complicated past. Though when we first meet them they are dressed in a masculine disguise, trying to keep a low profile, their non-binary identity is soon disclosed to the rest of the crew, leading to some hilarious and genuine conversations. And Jim’s relationship with Olu is layered, supportive, and incredibly sweet, revealing the kind of vulnerability that I always love to see between characters.
Ortiz is very active on social media, advocating for trans justice, sharing their stories on acting and creativity, and speaking openly about their experience on the show. It’s through Ortiz that I learned about the diversity of the writer’s room, among other things, and I’ve been so appreciative of their willingness to talk about breaking into the industry, working through gender feelings, and getting top surgery.
I’m also just gonna say, with the utmost respect: they’re really, really hot.
2. Three fully-realized queer couples (Ed/Stede, Jim/Olu, Lucius/Black Pete)
While the growing relationship between Ed and Stede is the central focus of the show, this isn’t the only queer romance. Lucius, the sweet scribe who clocks Ed and Stede’s connection from the start, and Black Pete, a snarky cinnamon roll, initially seem like simple fuck buddies but soon display a lot of tenderness and care towards each other.
And Olu, a calm and quiet soul who never misses a thing, seems to have fallen for Jim long before their full identity as a non-binary pirate (rather than the mute man they originally pretend to be) was revealed.
The couples kiss and fuck and flirt and cuddle and tease on-screen, in a way that isn’t made to be a big deal or a dramatic moment — it all feels very lived-in, very natural, very normal. It’s casually and consistently queer, in a way that I almost didn’t believe the first time I watched it.
3. Leslie Jones and her 19 husbands
Playing the absolutely iconic character of Spanish Jackie, Leslie Jones’ delivery of every single line is flawless. A fierce and terrifying leader who rules her slice of the world with an iron fist, Spanish Jackie and her 19 husbands steal scenes without even trying, and Jones has some of the funniest lines in the show.
4. Queer love between older characters / later in life coming out
So many queer love stories are centered around young people: high schoolers, college kids, and those in their 20s. And while it’s really important to show queer kids being their full and authentic selves, it’s incredibly beautiful to see a love story between two middle-aged characters, and to see that story include tenderness, care, and deep compassion.
The characters of Our Flag Means Death aren’t generally fussed about labels, aren’t constantly asking one another to choose or identity their preferences. But while Stede clearly never felt like he fit into his life before piracy, his story reads to me as one of a person who is discovering so much about themselves, particularly through their friendship with and attraction to Ed. As someone who came out after getting married, who took a long time to feel like I could be openly queer, it was so refreshing to see a character taking a similar journey, and to not get hung up on ideas of being too old to chase happiness.
5. Taika Waititi & Rhys Darby’s brilliant chemistry & improv / longtime friends playing lovers
Waititi and Darby have been friends for decades, and so many of their joint interviews about the show dig into their chemistry, history, and general delight at getting to work together. Some of the most beloved scenes in Our Flag Means Death were improvised, including a fan favorite conversation about opening a restaurant. It’s such a joy to see actors getting to play around in character together, to see creative collaboration on this level, and to know how involved the different actors were in their characters and story arcs.
6. Daddy issues & toxic masculinity
So many of the characters in Our Flag Means Death have difficult family histories or complicated, abusive relationships with their parents, and we see both Ed and Stede struggle to understand the choices that their fathers made, the ways that they learned to understand masculinity, and the destructive ideas that they’ve internalized for so long. We quickly learn that Ed is tired of having to be Blackbeard, the fearsome and bloodthirsty pirate, and instead longs to relax, to enjoy fine things, to prioritize love and comfort. Stede wants to feel strong, brave, and powerful, in ways that he’s always been told he isn’t, and is grappling with finding his authentic self in a way that isn’t tangled up in shame. Both of them are constantly told by others who they are, and who they have to be. And both are working to overcome those narratives.
Ed and Stede are each on very personal and vulnerable journeys, but as their relationship blossoms, we see more and more how these early ideas of masculinity have impacted who they are, and how their connection helps them feel safe to pursue becoming the people that they now want to be.
These concepts aren’t limited to Ed and Stede’s stories. We also see family dynamics coming up in Jim’s past, in Mary’s journey, in Izzy Hands’ entire situation. These characters grapple with their childhoods and relationships with masculinity in a very complicated and nuanced way, and I really appreciated seeing so many different approaches to these difficult and emotional issues.
7. Mary Bonnet
Mary is fucking incredible. From being a wife that tries everything she can to save her marriage to adapting to changing circumstances with grace and aplomb, I absolutely loved seeing Mary’s journey, her growth, and her strength. More Mary in season two, please.
8. Complicated queer love triangles (Ed/Stede/Izzy, Ed/Stede/Calico Jack, Olu/Jim/Jim’s past)
Look, it’s not always a popular trope, but I love a love triangle: the messier, the better. And while there are probably other ways to interpret these relationships, throughout the season Ed has a few exes that pop up, threatening his growing connection to Stede and challenging him to either move forward or slide back. Izzy and Calico Jack both read to me as jealous ex-lovers, each pining for a version of Blackbeard that doesn’t really exist anymore — and in contrast with Stede, who is falling for Ed as he is now, it gives all of these characters a lot to work through, process, and consider.
And of course, Jim’s past comes crashing into their story with Olu in a big way that I won’t spoil here, but suffice to say, I absolutely consider Jim, Olu, and Jim’s past to be a messy love triangle of its own.
9. Soundtrack / cinematography / set design / costumes
This show is gorgeous, full stop. The sets are lush and layered, the costumes are meticulous and instantly iconic, and the soundtrack and music cues are perfectly timed. It feels like a visual treat, and every time I watch the show through again I notice something new.
10. Combat nun
I will not be elaborating further. Just watch the damn show.